Everything you have gone through in life, the good, the bad, ugly and sad, triumphant, heart felt, and more has turned you into the person you are. You GREW through what you went through. And maybe you are still going through it, maybe you are in the thick of it now and you feel there is no end in sight. My reminder to you is this...keep going. Persistence with the right intellect gets anyone through what they are going through.
We go through things every single day...so are we constantly growing? Simple answer, yes we are. How we grow is a different story. If we are unaware of what is happening in and through the day, our growth is suppressed. GROWTH is a choice. CHANGE is a constant and each moment we are changing. Along the way, we have to make the right effort in order to grow.
Think of growth in terms of a seed becoming a tree. Planting a seed in the ground is generally not enough to ensure it will grow. Other practices include, ensuring good soil, watering it, and so forth. Seeds are being planted all the time in our lives and tending to the garden seems difficult at times and it is important that we have to make the right effort. Through making the right effort, we have a greater chance of that seedling growing into its full potential and more! GROWTH starts with making the right effort
What is the right effort?
Right effort according to Buddha is "to exert oneself to develop wholesome qualities and release unwholesome qualities". Back to the seedling metaphor; around the seedling will inevitably be weeds and they will compete with your seedling for nutrients and your seedling will not grow as well as it could if you were to not pull the weeds around it. Similar concept here for personal growth. In each experience, you will not be perfect. You will have wholesome qualities and unwholesome qualities threaded into the experience. The right effort here is to assess the situation, reflect and uncover what worked and what didn't, what felt right and what didn't.
Practice:
Think back to a time where you went through something uncomfortable, challenging, or whatever it may be that felt like a difficult experience. Heck, it could be that one time you spoke in front of 100 people about a project you were working on. Think about what you learned from that experience and take some time to write out the exact moment, how you felt leading up to it and during, and then write about how you felt at the end and further, what lessons were learned throughout the entire process. Lessons aren't just learned after the experience is done; no no, lessons are threaded from start to finish. Take a look back and analyze this experience for you and see if what you learned is still with you today and how it may be affecting how you interact with the world currently.
Self reflection is an incredible tool for life and the more time we spend understanding our own past and the lessons we have learned along the way and how in turn, we live out our days in accordance to that, it just might create a little more consciousness and awareness in our lives which is essential in living a happy and fulfilled life.
Peace be the journey,
Jace
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